God uses the word “Samkara” in the Sanskrit verse, which is often interpreted as “varna-samkara.” Varna-samkara generally means the progeny resulting from the union of men and women belonging to two different varnas. It is believed that the Lord is opposed to marriage between individuals from different varnas, reinforcing the compartmentalized caste system of orthodox Hinduism. However, the meaning of varna-samkara is not necessarily a “child born of a man and a woman of two different varnas.” According to Manusmriti, 10:24, varna-samkara has three meanings:

a) A child born of the union of a man and a woman of two different varnas.

b) A child born of a marriage with a sexually “untouchable” woman, e.g., a sister of the same gotra.

c) One who has forsaken one’s prescribed duties.

In this verse, the first two meanings do not fit in at all—only the third meaning, “one who has forsaken one’s prescribed duties,” can make sense.

Krishnadvipāyana Vedavyāsa was himself a varna-samkara in the first sense—the son of a Brāhmin father, Sage Parāshara, and a fisherwoman Satyavati! We know that no sage has worked more comprehensively than Krishnadvipāyana Vedavyāsa to systematize and bolster the Sanātana (Hindu) Faith. It was Vedavyāsa who penned down this Gitā verse too. Therefore, samkara or varna-samkara could not have been the intended meaning in the first of the three aforementioned senses.